The 2013 A-F statewide school grades were released last week and some Ruidoso Municipal Schools went up, some down and others remained static.

Ruidoso High School, which received a C grade in 2012, saw great improvement across the board and rose to an A for the 2013 school year.

Other schools in the district like Ruidoso Middle School and White Mountain Elementary missed the bar with a D and F respectively.

But, Ruidoso Municipal School Superintendent George Bickert said, looks can be deceiving.

"The simple answer is our elementary school is an F and our middle school is a D because our growth hasn't been there the last three years and that's where we took a hit. High school got an A because their one year growth was phenomenal and the state only has one year's worth of comparison for them. Let's congratulate RHS for a phenomenal year and Nob Hill Early Childhood Center for jumping from an F to a B. But we need to build, not blame. We need to build what's happening in the other schools and not blame students, not blame parents, not blame the teachers - not even blame the system. Let's understand the system better."

And it's the system - the grading system in particular - that's got parents, educators and indeed many legislators confused, Bickert said.

Advertisement

"One state senator said that there are probably only five people in the Legislature that even understand how the points are calculated and awarded," Bickert said. "This is like the IRS code."

Bickert cited an example of the prevailing attitude that exists even among those who purportedly applaud the A-F coding system, which officially took affect in July of last year, replacing the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) system that was deemed inadequate.

"Last year in a meeting, Cindy Gregory, the number two person in assessment and accountability - supposedly the person that knows this the most - was asked 'will (Public Education Department) ever do a training where we can calculate our own value-added points?" Bickert said. "And her response was 'I really think the math is too complicated for you to understand.' This was in a room of over 100 educators. That's the kind of attitude, unfortunately, that the Public Education Department has had about this - that we're too stupid to understand."

Within the complex grading system, 65 percent of the grade that schools receive is based strictly on growth - whether or not overall student test scores showed improvement over the previous year - not on their actual academic performance, Bickert said. "Only 35 percent of the schools grade is actually calculated on the students academic performance on the tests that year."

Bickert cites the example of White Mountain Elementary that was graded an F this year.

"But they beat this B school in how students were actually performing in reading and math," Bickert said. "The problem is the school has not shown academic growth over three years and so with the majority of points coming from growth factors, that's why our school received an F."

The frustration for Bickert is getting that information across to the community and helping teachers and parents cut through the confusion.

"Everyone in the community thinks we have a failing school and we have failing students and we have failing teachers and based on this analogy, it's not true," Bickert said. "Now, we have not grown - that is fair. We're going to fix some things so that we do grow. But to say that the teachers did a bad job - not true. And that the students and the parents of that school have not done a good job - not true."

"My job as superintendent is to help them understand why this grade is here and then show how strategically we're going to fix those areas where we're getting no points at all. That's our goal - to get the parents understanding."

To further address the issues, Bickert plans to invite parents to an informative session at each school to educate and try to bring some clarity on how the school grades are calculated.

"When the principals come back we're going to have a parent-and-community night at each school where we can talk about that school's report card. And we're hoping to do it before the first month of school is out," he said.

In the meantime, while working to bring attention to the state Legislature regarding the disparity in the state's A-F grading system formula, Bickert said school administrators already are working hard to address specific areas where test scores are lowest.

"The principal has been in each day since these have come out and we've had nine different teachers in the first three days this week already working with me, the principal and the director of support services on realigning and refocusing our curriculum on what we need to do," he said.

The teachers, who are not on contract right now are coming in on their own accord, Bickert said.

"They're in here because they know they're not what these grades imply and we have to change that letter grade," he said.

One way administrators have begun to address the academic issues is by breaking down test scores and by pin pointing specific areas within the curriculum where test scores were lowest, a strategy that Bickert said proved successful at previous schools he supervised.

Melvina Torres-Ovrick, director of Support Services and instructional coach for White Mountain Elementary School, said focus is a key goal this school year.

"We are trying to focus our instruction and go in-depth and address those specific needs," she said. "These are being addressed on a grade level as well as will be assessed on an individual level with each child."

Bickert has submitted a formal request to PED to explain how grades for Nob Hill and Sierra Vista Primary, which services first- and second-grade students were calculated as those students are not yet grade appropriate for state-mandated testing.

"We have no data to go by," Bickert said. "We don't know how those grades were arrived at. An explanation hasn't been given."

Sierra Vista Primary received an F in 2012 and 2013.

Capitan Middle School remained at a B for 2013 and its elementary school rose from a D to a B. Capitan High School rose two grade levels from a C to an A, which, Bickert said, is a trend seen throughout New Mexico high schools this year.

According to a press release issued by Governor Susana Martinez last week, more than 70 percent of New Mexico schools maintained or improved their school grades, with high schools across the state showing the greatest improvement.

"It's not that it's a bad system," Bickert said. "It just needs some revision to make it better so that's it's not so disproportionate."

The A-F school grading system is the result of legislation passed in the 2011 session to establish "a more helpful and understandable way to describe the level of performance of New Mexico schools," according to Martinez' report.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story